Music: Eurovision, here comes Istanbul's underground scene

“Love me back” by Can Bonomo brings alternative musi

(ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 19 - Istanbul's underground musical
scene comes forth and flies over to Baku to represent Turkey at
the Eurovision song contest 2012 which is to be held in the
Azerbaijani capital next 22, 24 and 26 May. It will be the song
"Love me back" by the 24 year-old Can Bonomo to bring Turkey
onto the stage of the "European Sanremo". Currently in Rome to
present the song, the young artist talks about the vitality
within the Turkish music industry and especially of the great
ferment which Istanbul is witnessing right now, the city he
lives and works in.

The decision by the national network TRT to select "Love me
back" for the Eurovision is something quite revolutionary. "Up
until now" the singer says "it has always been commercial pop to
feature in Turkey. It's the genre which most people follow." His
music is instead considered to be alternative, underground,
because it mixes various genres. A mix of jazz, pop, rock and
traditional Turkish music. Music from Istanbul, as a matter of
fact, varied and multicultural in its sound.

"Love me back" tells of the passion of a sailor for the sea and
his love for a woman (Can was born in Izmir). A song which he
himself doesn't hesitate to define "eclectic, representing the
spirit and the traditional Turkish sounds thanks to the use of
several classical instruments." 27 in all. Other than the
electric guitar, bass, drums, tuba, sax, violin, clarinet and
trombone, Can has wanted to put in the baglama, the cura (long
necked instruments belonging to the lute family), the daf, the
bendir (one of the oldest percussion instruments in middle
eastern music) and the darbuka (a sort of cupped drum, similar
to the Egyptian tabla). Its a polyphony which the heads at TRT
enjoyed. "I was shocked when I heard about their decision" told
the singer.

He sings in English to represent Turkey but in truth he loves to
express himself in his own language. "I prefer singing in
Turkish, the language of the poets which inspire me and of
traditional sounds." His first album in fact, from which Love me
back is taken, is mainly in Turkish. His lyrics, he says, speak
of the world he sees and the way he perceives life. He
criticizes society and speaks of love but he prefers not to talk
of politics or touchy subjects. He is produced by an independent
label owned by one of his best friends and business partner, Can
Saban.

He nomination might make him famous in Turkey. "I'm proud to be
representing my country at the Eurovision but I'm especially
happy because things are changing in our musical panorama" he
adds. Leading the way is always Istanbul, the most European of
Turkish cities. It is this same city in which he lives and
produces, the city he loves to describe as "smaller than New
York, hotter than London, stranger than Berlin". He lives in
Cihangir, a central district in which tradition and secular
habits find their way and their differences alongside a western
style of life and modernity. It is there where artists,
intellectuals and bohemians feel at home, live and produce.